The invention relates generally to systems and methods for sports applications, and more particularly to systems and methods for predicting the performance of sports players for use in sports applications, such as fantasy sports applications.
Known fantasy sports applications rate sports players based on statistical data alone. Such known fantasy sports applications would rate a football quarterback, for example, based on his past passing accuracy, the number of interceptions thrown, and/or the number of field goals thrown. The quarterback's rating, however, would not take into account subjective attributes such as his arm strength or “poise in the pocket,” nor would it take into account external factors such as weather conditions during a game or injuries. These subjective and external factors can significantly impact a quarterback's performance despite being excluded or discarded when calculating his rating. For this reason, the player performance predictions that fantasy sports team owners currently rely on may not provide an accurate depiction of how the player will perform in the future.
Thus, a need exists for an improved system and method for predicting performance of sports players that considers external factors beyond mere statistics when predicting the player's future performance.